Discharge structure for a pulp press



May 29, 1956 c. c. BEEMAN 2,747,499

DISCHARGE STRUCTURE FOR A PULP PRESS Filed Jan. 16, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 6&54/04' 5. 552/ 40 y 29, 1956 c. c. BEEMAN DISCHARGE STRUCTURE FOR A PULP PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 16, 1953 INVENTOR. 62/74/05 6. BEE/URN 5 ENE? May 29, 1956 c. c. BEEMAN 2,747,499

DISCHARGE STRUCTURE FOR A PULP PRESS Filed Jan. 16, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 o o 24 G o 29 has @5 5 33 v '00 o o 30 I 0 1s 60 o INVENTOR.

United States Patent DISCHARGE STRUCTURE FOR A PULP PRESS Claude C. Beeman, Saginaw, Mich., assignor to Jackson & Church Company, Saginaw, lVlich., a corporation of Michigan Application January 16, 1953, Serial No. 331,622

6 Claims. (Cl. 100-147) This invention relates in general to pulp presses and more particularly relates to an improved construction of pulp presses which can be fabricated more economically and rapidly than previous types and without loss in desirable operating functions.

In pulp presses of the general type shown in the Ahlborn Patent Number 2,664,814, issued January 5, 1954, it has been the previous practice to make the major part of the discharge structure of the pulp press from castings. By the nature of these parts, the castings were necessarily large and were correspondingly time consuming and expensive to construct. While a wide variety of specific adaptations has been made, since this general type of machine has been known for a great many years as illustrated in Patent No. 1,354,528, in all of these adaptations, insofar as I am aware, it was deemed necessary to use castings to construct the lower part of the press for the reason that it was not believed possible, prior to this invention, to secure the necessary functions except by shapes which could not readily be formed by fabrication from welded and machined plate material. This has, accordingly, due to the lack of flexibility in casting procedures, greatly restricted the sizes and designs of pulp presses which it is practical for a manufacturer to supply as production items and at best it has required the use of time consuming and expensive procedures. If, however, a design could be created using plate stock which could be welded together, then the restricting features of castings would be eliminated and the presses could be built at much greater speed, with better economy and with greater versatility in detail, design and size.

Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide a structure for the discharge portion of a pulp press which can be constructed from welded plate stock without loss of any of the advantageous functional features of castings previously used.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a structure, as aforesaid, which is strong and sturdy, resulting in longer continued use without breakdowns or replacement of parts.

A fiirther object of the present invention is to provide a discharge structure for a pulp press, as aforesaid, which can be fabricated rapidly and economically.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a pulp press structure, as aforesaid, which can be constructed in varying sizes and for varying uses without requiring major changes in design other than dimensional.

Other objects and purposes of the invention will become apparent to persons acquainted with apparatus of this general type upon reading the following disclosure and inspecting the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a broken side view having a substantial part thereof exposed in central cross-section.

Figure 2 represents a section taken on the line 11-11 of Figure 3.

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line Iii-III of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a top view of the base plate with all other parts removed.

Figure 5 is a top view of the spider depending from the lower end of the spindle.

Figure 6 is a top view of the inner and outer vertical housings.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line VIIVII of Figure 3 to illustrate a detail of the invention.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line VIIIVIII of Figure 3 to further illustrate said detail.

General description As shown in Figure 1, the heart of the pulp press is a conventional spindle 10 having helical flights 11 arranged to rotate around a vertical axis. The spindle 10 is driven by any conventional means at the upper end thereof in the general manner described in said Patent 2,664,814 as through the gear 9. A screen structure 12 surrounds the spindle 10 and is held in place by frame members 13 which form a grill-like frame surrounding the said screen 12. An outer wall 14 surrounds the entireassembly defining an efliuent collecting chamber 15 whose bottom is defined by a trough 16.

A floor plate 6 rests upon a floor 20 upon which the entire machine is supported. The outer wall 14 is fastened at its upper end in any convenient manner to said floor plate, as by bolts, and is fastened at its lower end to the outer rim of the trough or water basin 16. Said trough supports an outer annular housing 29 from which is suspended a base member 24.

The spindle 10 is supported by the combined radial and thrust bearings 18 near its upper end and is supported radially by the bearing 82 at its lower end. Discharge control mechanism including a wedge ring 61 is supported upon the base member 24 and piston 70. Rods 7 and 8, and counterparts thereof 7a and 8a, on the other side of the device, are suspended from the floor plate 6 and function to hold the apparatus in suspended condition during assembly or when certain parts thereof, as the connection between the trough and the outer wall 14, are disconnected for cleaning and/ or repair.

A spider 17 (Figures 1 and 5), including an annular, downwardly extending skirt 86, is suspended from the lower end of the conical portion of the spindle 10 and in turn supports a guide shaft 83, said guide shaft 83 being coaxial with and extending below the conical portion of the spindle 10.

Detailed description The base 24 (Figures 1 and 4) is provided with a plurality of downwardly extending stiffening flanges, three of which are shown at 21, 22 and 23. A central opening 25 is provided through said base 24 and a plurality of boltholes 26 is provided adjacent its peripheral edge. Positioned adjacent the outer periphery of said base 24 is a lower flange 27 which is bolted to the base 24 by a series of outer bolts 28. The lower end of the annular outer housing 29 is connected to the base 24 by lower flange 27 and an upper flange 30 connects the trough or water basin 16 to the upper end of said housing 29.

It will be observed (Figures 3 and 4) that the outer annular housing 29 extends substantially beyond the edges 93 and 94 of the base plate 24 and thereby the openings 91 and 92 are provided, as hereinafter set forth in more detail, for the discharge of the solid pressed material.

An inner vertical annular housing 31 extends from the base 24 to the same horizontal plane as that defined by the upper flange 30 and is braced with respect to the outer annular housing 29 by the brackets 4 and 5 (Figures 2, 3 and 6). An outlet conduit 32 extends from the interior of the inner annular housing 31 to the outside of the outer housing 29. Two pairs of cooperating, angularly positioned, solids directing shield plates 33, 33a, 33b and 330 (Figures 2, 3 and 6) are provided between the inner annular housing 31 and the outer annular housing 29. The secondary guide plates 1%, 101, 102, and 103 (Figures 3, 7 and 8) are provided between the internal walls of the outer annular housing 29 and the shield plates 33, 33a, 33b, and 330 respectively, in order to assist'in the direction of solid material toward the openings 91 and 92.

The housing defining the trough or water basin 16 is comprised of'an outer annular trough plate 34 co-axial with and axially co-extensive from the outer housing 29 which includes a relatively heavy ring member 35. The ring member 35 preferably has its internal surface 36 machined to a bevel as shown and said ring member 35 is attached to the upper flange 30. A conical inner plate 37 extends upwardly and radially inwardly from the heavy ring member 35 and connects to an upper inner trough ring 39. Said trough ring 39 has a bevel '41 at its inner lower edge for purposes appearing hereinafter. An open ing 42 through said outer annular trough plate 34 is provided for communication with an upper external conduit 43.

This last named conduit 43 acts in cooperation with a lower external conduit 44 to conduct efiiuent from the press into a common conduit 46 for conducting said efiluent to such other place as may be desired.

The cone supporting structure 50 comprises three spider arms 51 supported on a hub 52 and having three upstanding legs 53. A brace 54 stiffens each upstanding leg 53 and a brace 55 stiffens each spider arm 51. At the upper end of said spider legs 53, there is a ring 56. The cone, or clearance adjusting, member 57 comprises a cylindrical housing 58 having a beveled ring 59 at its lower edge, a conically arranged plate or member 60 extending inwardly and downwardly from a point on the inner surface of said cylindrical housing 58 intermediate its upper and lower ends, the wedge ring 61 afiixed to its upper end.

Said wedge ring 61 has an annular internal surface coaxial with the spindle engaging the outer surface of the downwardly extending skirt 86 as closely as possible while remaining in both slidable and rotatable relationship with respect thereto. The opposing surfaces of the conical plate 37 and the wedge ring 61 define a conical passageway 88.

Said wedge ring 61 is of such size with respect to the spacing of said skirt 86 from the internal wall 87 of the ring 39 that, when wedge ring is in its full upward position as shown by the broken lines 61A in Figure l, it will fully close the space between the ring 39 and the skirt 86 at the lower end of spindle 19 and will fit closely against the beveled surface 41.

A second cylindrical housing or skirt 62 concentric with the center of the machine extends downwardly from the lower end of the conical member 61).

The hub 52 of the cone supporting structure 50 is supported on a plunger 70 of a pressure cylinder 71 which is Operation As the spindle 10 rotates, moving the pulp or solid material downwardly, liquid or efliuent pressed out through the screen 12 enters the trough 16 and is conducted through conduit 43 to the conduit 46.

Further eifiuent may go inwardly through the wall of the spindle 10, if the spindle 10 is provided with a screen along its length, down through the spider 17 and into the inner effluent chamber 75, thence through the conduit 32 and into the conduit 46. The solid material from which the liquid has been pressed pushes through the opening between the skirt 86 and the inner Wall 87 of the ring 39 and drops through the conical passageway 88 downwardly through the openings 91 and 92 in the bottom of the machine. The shield plates 33, 33a, 33b, and 33.0, serve to guide the solid material sidewardly from the point of discharge thereof from the conical passageway 88 and into the openings 91 and 92 defined between the edges 93 and 94 of the base plate 24 and the wall of outer housing 29. Said shield plates and the guide plates 160, 101, 102 and 163 also prevent said material from accumulating on top of the conduit 32.

Vertical adjustment of the wedge ring 61 is controlled by the pressure within the cylinder 71 and determines the extent of the opening through which the pressed solid material will pass. This opening in turn determines, in an already known manner, the back pressure on the pressed material and hence the degree to which pressing will occur.

It will be observed that all of the parts above described, with respect to the base of the machine, can be formed fromsteel plate by welding and machining processes and that no castings are essential. Further, it will be observed that all of the welding required and all of the machining required are relatively simple and straightforward in nature so that the expense thereof can be held to a minimum.

It will be recognized that several parts of the foregoing 7 described structure may be varied without departing from supplied with a pressure fluid from any convenient source through a pressure controlling valve 69, a directional valve 74 and thence thru one of the conduits 72 and 73. Proper operation of said valves will cause said plunger 70 of the cylinder 71 to move the cone supporting structure 50 and hence the wedge ring 61 upwardly or downwardly as desired and while said pressure controlling valve 69 remains in any one setting, the fluid pressure supplied to the cylinder 71 remains at a constant value.

An internal effluent receiving chamber 75 is defined by a lower horizontal circular plate 76 and an outer annular wall 77. A guide member 78 is afiixed to the upper end of the wall 77 for supporting and guiding the second cylindrical housing or skirt 62. Said inner etfluent chamber 75 has an opening 79 permitting communication from its interior to the conduit 32. The parts defining said inner effluent chamber 75 are supported in part by the the scope of the invention and accordingly my claims are to be so interpreted excepting as by their own terms they expressly limit otherwise.

I claim:

1. In a discharge structure for a pulp press having a vertically cylindrical screen and a concentric, radially outwardly spaced outer housing, the combination comprising: a base plate having a central opening therethrough, a pair of upstanding annular housings arranged concentric with said central opening of said base plate and each connected at its lower edge to said base plate; an annular trough connected with the upper edge of the outermost of said annular housings, the radially inner and outer upper edges of said annular trough respectively adapted for connecting to the lower edges of the screen and said outer housing, respectively; a spider positioned concentrically with said central opening in said base plate and having upstanding legs at the ends of the arms of said spider, said upstanding legs being spaced radially inwardly of the inner wall or" the innermost annular housing; a conical wedge ring supported at the upper ends of said upstanding legs; an external skirt depending from said ring and engaging an inner surface of said inner annular housing, said ring being movable vertically with respect to said inner housing for varying clearance between said ring and the lower edge of the radially inner wall of said trough; means extending through said central opening for imposing a pressure of constant value onto said ring for urging same upwardly.

2. In a supporting structure for a pulp press having a vertically cylindrical screen and a concentric, radially outwardly spaced outer housing, the combination comprising: a base structure having a central opening; inner and outer housings each arranged concentric with the said central opening and connected to said base; an annular trough connected to the upper edge of the said outer annular housing, said trough having radially inner and outer upper edges adapted for engagement with the screen and outer housing, respectively; a spider positioned concentrically with said central opening, said spider having upwardly extending legs at the ends of the arms thereof; a wedge ring supported upon the upper ends of said up- Wardly extending legs; a skirt depending from said ring and engaging the inner surface of said inner annular housing, said ring being radially inwardly from, below, and movable vertically with respect to, said trough; and means extending through said central opening for imposing a pressure of constant value onto said spider for urging said ring upwardly.

3. In a supporting structure for a pulp press having a vertically cylindrical screen and a concentric radially outwardly spaced outer housing, the combination comprising: a base structure having a central opening; a pair of radially spaced, vertically annular housings arranged concentric with the said central opening and connected to said base; an annular trough on the upper edge of the radially outermost of said annular housings; a spider positioned concentrically with said trough and having upwardly extending legs at the ends of the arms thereof; a wedge ring supported upon the upper ends of said upwardly extending legs, constantly engaging the inner surface of the innermost of said annular housings and engageable with the inner surface of said annular trough; and means secured to said spider and extending through said central opening for imposing a pressure of constant value onto said spider for urging said ring upwardly, said last-named means also serving to move said wedge ring into and out of engage ment with said inner surface of said annular trough.

4. In a supporting structure for a pulp press having a vertically cylindrical screen and a concentric outwardly spaced outer housing, the combination comprising; a base structure; a pair of radially spaced, vertically annular housings arranged concentric with each other and connected to said base; an annular trough on the upper edge of the radially outermost of said annular housings; a spider positioned above said base plate and mounted for movement relative thereto, said spider being positioned concentrically with said trough and having upwardly extending legs at the ends of the arms thereof; a wedge ring supported upon the upper end of said upwardly extending legs, constantly engaging the inner surface of the innermost of said annu lar housings and engageable with the inner surface of said annular trough; and means secured to said spider for moving said ring into and out of engagement with said inner surface of said annular trough.

5. In a discharge structure for a pulp press having a vertically cylindrical screen and a concentric, radially outwardly spaced outer housing, the combination comprising: a base plate; a pair of upstanding annular housings arranged concentric with each other and each connected at its lower edge to said base plate; an annular trough connected with the upper edge of the outermost of said annular housings; the radially inner and outer upper edges of said annular trough respectively secured to the lower edges of the screen and the outer housing, respectively; a spider positioned above said base plate and mounted for movement relative thereto, said spider being positioned concentrically with said trough and having upstanding legs at the ends of the arms thereof, said upstanding legs being spaced radially inwardly of the inner wall of the innermost annular housing; a wedge ring supported at the upper ends of said legs; a cylindrical skirt depending from said ring and engaging the inner surface of said inner annular housing, said ring being movable vertically with respect to said inner housing for varying clearance between said ring and the lower edge of the radially inner wall of said trough; and means secured to said spider for moving said ring into and out of engagement with said radially inner wall of said trough.

6. In a supporting structure for a pulp press having a vertically cylindrical screen and a concentric, outwardly spaced outer housing, the combination comprising: a base structure; a pair of radially spaced, vertically annular housings arranged concentric with each other and connected to said base; an annular trough on the upper edge of the radially outermost of said annular housings; a wedge ring supporting member positioned above said base plate and mounted for movement relative thereto, said wedge ring supporting member being positioned concentrically with said trough and having legs extending upwardly therefrom; a wedge ring supported upon the upper end of said upwardly extending legs, constantly engaging the inner surface of the innermost of said annular housings and engageable with the inner surface of said annular trough; and means secured to said wedge ring supporting member for moving said ring into and out of engagement with said inner surface of said annular trough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,245,950 Neufeldt Nov. 6, 1917 2,122,202 French June 28, 1938 2,325,426 Rietz July 27, 1943 2,548,938 Bilbe Mar. 20, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 427,571 Great Britain Apr. 26, 1935 560,184 Germany Sept. 29, 1932 

